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WCEL
> Issues > Urban Growth and
Development > Smart Bylaws Guide
> Part
2 > Connect the Green Infrastructure
> Environmentally Sensitive Areas - Saanich
Smart Bylaws Guide – Connect the Green Infrastructure – Environmentally
Sensitive Areas - Saanich
The District of Saanich obtained funding from the provincial
government and the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, with
support from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, to
conduct an environmentally significant areas inventory from 1997 to
1999 using global positioning system (GPS) fieldwork. The ESA
inventory focused on stream and riparian zones, and provides data on
the plant, tree and shrub layer of those zones. It also identified
degraded areas that require restoration or the re-establishment of
riparian vegetation around watercourses.
More accurate than many environmental maps developed from aerial
photographs, the resulting Environmentally Significant Areas Atlas
identifies the "green infrastructure" for the
municipality, areas that are subject to stricter development
standards. The first of its kind in Canada, the Environmentally
Significant Areas Atlas and Inventory was developed by Saanich’s environmental
planner with assistance from six University of Victoria students and
many volunteers. It is used to amend existing and develop new
bylaws (watercourse, blasting, fill and sediments control), as well
as assist planners and other staff when reviewing development
applications. The Atlas is considered to be a work in
progress.
Finally, the Atlas is used as part of the Environmental
and Social Review Process for assessing development
applications.
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